Your Guide to Volcano Movies

I get a lot of questions about what I think of the various movies that have come out over the years that feature volcanic activity. So, I thought I'd try to write a few capsule review/commentaries on the many volcano movies I've seen - and trust me, I haven't seen them all (e.g., 2012, Joe vs. the Volcano, Magma: Volcanic Disaster). However, I have seen a lot of them ... and I have to admit, no matter how silly premise or how bad the science, I do get a kick out of most of them. Sure, there are some that are such an abomination unto mankind that I can't even appreciate them on a Satellite of Love level, but that is the price we pay, isn't it? It is interesting that there aren't a huge number of Hollywood films that have used a volcanic eruption as a central theme - but we have seen an upswing in made-for-TV movies and docudramas (I've included a couple of these) as special effects become cheaper. Here's how this will work - I've scored the films on four major areas: premise, science, effects, acting and thrills -- all on a scale of 1 (low) to 9 (high) and then averaged the scores to give the film its VEI - Volcanic Entertainment Index. I couldn't decide on an order, so chronological it is! The Last Days of Pompeii (1935)